Will it ever happen?

The process for broadcasting will differ by area, but I know that where we lived in Texas it was an APB sent out to all of the agencies that the intake worker had in their cue. Most of the time that means that it goes out to all of the agencies in the area, but not always. Sometimes workers will start with select agencies that they have liked working with in the past. It really depends on the worker, but from that part of the process it really pays to be with an agency that has had a great reputation. The other part of the process is on your agency's end. Once they have received the call that such-and-such a child is available, they will begin calling homes that are open to the gender and age of the child. This may be done in a more or less random manner, but it may also be that the placement worker from your agency will first call families that they have liked working with in the past. This is why you will often hear people say that they waited three to eight months in between their first two placements, and then suddenly they have five placements in an eight month window. Once your name gets known in the agency, you suddenly become very popular. Lastly, a family is selected by the intake worker who sent out the initial APB. Typically it is the family of the first agency that gets back to the intake worker. Remember, that worker needs to know the family before they can really get the process completed for the day, and they don't want to be stuck with that scared child any longer than they have to. It is therefore very important that you are able to answer the call affirmatively right away, and that your placement worker relays your answer right away. You may still not be first, and you may still not be chosen even if you are, but it certainly improves your odds. I'll tell you what ended up helping us in getting the calls was that we were with one of only two or three agencies that had a 24 hour placement worker, and we also always kept our phones on. We received a lot of our placements after 10 pm. Two of our placements actually arrived at our home after one o'clock in the morning. That's the process I came to know. I hope it helps.